Call of Duty: Ghosts – Becoming Familiar with the New Multiplayer Maps

Call of Duty’s multiplayer has always been a mighty addiction of mine as I could spend countless hours playing hardcore team deathmatch, either by myself or with some friends. The online play, leveling up my soldier, unlocking new weapons and perks – these are the things that pull me in time and time again, and especially so with the release of every new Call of Duty.

Call of Duty: Ghosts brings that same familiar Call of Duty feeling, though something seems a bit different this time around. No, not because it’s new! My thoughts immediately took me to the maps as they feel larger and more open. It’s not so much the tight zones we are used to with the older maps. There are usually always two dominant sections on each map, but these new maps take those sections away because it’s more likely to get hit from a distance. I’ve never seen so many long distance opportunities in a Call of Duty game and it’s slightly refreshing to have these open maps.

I do recall a few maps that were large in size in Modern Warfare 3, but they still aren’t nearly as open spaced as these maps are in Ghosts. This is pretty much a great thing for snipers! I even considered creating a sniper loadout due to the openness of some maps and how many players were setting up camp in prime locations. Not every map is this way, but that certainly is the theme. It could also be that there are an increased number of locations that players can get hit from. This can also make some maps feel much larger.

I do have a couple of favorites so far, and one is probably the smallest map in Ghosts. I’m a run and gun type of player, so this openness throws me off. In fact, I bet it throws a lot of people off for a while until they better familiarize themselves with the layout of each map. My absolute favorite map in Ghosts is Strikezone. It’s pretty much straight forward without multiple levels to a building or windows to shoot out from. It reminds me of a typical Call of Duty map, and it’s a lot of fun to play. It was also the easiest map to learn because of its small size, and in a game where the territory is unfamiliar, it’s easy for a player to claim favorites to a map that they know best. Maybe I’ll have a new favorite in a couple of weeks, maybe not.

Strikezone Gameplay Videos

The larger open area maps create for an outside parameter game. It usually isn’t the smartest idea to run along the inside routes due to the fact that there is always a sniper hiding somewhere – usually in a window or laying in the grass. So players will stick along the outside walls looking inward towards the map. Heck, most gunners play it incredibly safe on the castle map where there are prime overwatch points to snipe from. My plan is to either stick to the outside or play the walls very closely. It’s still a lot of fun though, because it brings new situations to the gameplay.

Players still get ran over at times, and the spawns can be horrendous – both good and bad – as I’ve spawned right in front of an enemy who was running away and spawned right in the middle of a firefight. I haven’t been playing with friends, so it’s been difficult to keep an eye on my backside. There are a lot of areas for enemies to drop out from on these maps and it makes venturing alone a very questionable idea.

I’ve put around 10 hours into the multiplayer game so far and still don’t fully recognize some of the maps. There are a few that are really discombobulating, especially the forest-like map with the large tower. My goodness, I barely see that map! And when I do I feel more lost than I have on any of the other maps. It probably won’t be too much longer before I get the gist of them, though. However, with as many maps as there are and the fact that I rarely see some of them, it leads to an even longer amount of time to familiarize myself to them. It also takes longer to learn a few because of the size and increased amount of routes and hiding spots.

Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer is still a fast-paced game that can run players over if they move too slowly, but far more often am I seeing camping in corners because it’s proven to not be the wisest of ideas to run out into some areas due to the many different spots that players can get hit from. The checkdowns are insane in some of these maps, including a smaller town-like map that has multiple levels, multiple windows, and multiple entrance points from buildings. It’s crazy and can certainly be frustrating, but it’s still absolutely addicting and much fun!

Multiplayer is still a blast to play. I love having my companion dog to help protect my back during online matches. That is, of course, a killstreak reward that enables after 5 kills. It’s nice to call him out as he protects me from enemies. It’s also nice that if I die he has the chance to kill the bad guy and come back to me once I respawn. Good puppy!

I can’t say that Ghosts has a great amount of maps to begin with. It’s tough coming from Black Ops II to Ghosts because of how many great maps BOII had. Still, these are new and create for some unique gameplay elements. It may take some time, but players will have their favorite maps to love. They will also have their favorite maps to hate, like the stupid factory map. Ugh!

Continue to check out my YouTube page for more Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer gameplay videos!

Andrew Stevens is a Guest Editor at FanBolt for Gaming and Technology. He has over 8 years of experience working within the gaming industry which includes time at Bethesda Softworks. His unique view of the industry and passion for gaming can be found within each one of his editorials. Andrew also loves PC gaming and enjoys tinkering with new hardware. He also can’t get enough speed when it comes to racing games and doesn’t mind navigating through swarms of bullets in any shmup. He considers Rez as the greatest game ever. Andrew's opinions are his own and do not reflect the opinions of his place of employment.